DNR to purchase 14K acres in Wisconsin’s Iron County

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — State Department of Natural Resources officials plan to ask their board next week for permission to spend nearly $5 million to purchase an easement on 14,350 acres in Iron County.

The deal calls for the DNR to spend $4.8 million on the easement from Keweenaw Land Association Ltd., with $400,000 going into an endowment for road maintenance. The money would come from the DNR’s land stewardship program.

The property would be called the Great Northern Conservation Easement and would be adjacent to the 13,800-acre Twin Lakes forest legacy easement and the Moose Lake State Natural Area.

According to DNR documents, the easement would preserve the acreage for sustainable forestry and keep it undeveloped.